Marvel's Spider-Man Photo Mode Explained

Aug 22, 20226 min read

ℹ️ - Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered

Whether you are an experienced photographer or a complete novice just starting out, the huge variety of features found in video game photo modes can be confusing or even overwhelming at times. Don't worry though, the first step to taking better pictures is simply understanding how each feature works and what it does to the image.

That's why I'm going to use all of my photography experience to put together guides like this that explain exactly what each photo mode feature does in simple terms that anyone can understand...

- SPIDER-MAN // REMASTERED -

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered: Photo Mode Explained

Camera Mode
Lighting Mode
Sticker Mode
Other Settings
Controller Layout

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered on both PS5 and PC features Insomniac Games' fully featured photo mode, complete with several camera movement options and their advanced lighting system. Here's every feature explained:

Camera Mode

Free Camera:

Allows the camera to be moved freely using LS for forwards, backwards, left and right, L2 / R2 for up and down, and RS to pan & tilt the camera's aim direction like moving your head to look around. The range of movement is restricted to within a large sphere around Spider-Man.

Orbit Camera:

Anchors the camera to Spider-Man and allows only orbital movement around him with no separate control of the camera's aim direction. LS can move the camera closer to (↑) or further from (↓) the character.

Selfie Camera:

A limited movement camera held by Spider-Man at arm's length as though using a mobile phone.

- PHOTO MODE // CAMERA -

Suit:

Swaps between any of Spider-Man's suits that are currently unlocked in the game without exiting photo mode.

Tilt:

Rolls the camera around a central point to change the horizontal angle or flip all the way into a vertical / portrait orientation. A value of 25 rotates the image clockwise by 90°, 75 rotates it anti-clockwise by 90°, and 0 or 100 flip the image by 180°.

Hero Visibility:

Toggles whether the playable character is visible or invisible in photo mode.

Enemy Visibility:

Toggles whether hostile enemies are visible or invisible in photo mode. This applies to all enemies at once.

Show Weather:

Toggles whether effects such as falling raindrops are visible or invisible in photo mode. Clouds and ground conditions are not affected.

- PHOTO MODE // FIELD OF VIEW -

Field of View:

Narrows or widens the angle of view within the frame using a simple 0 - 100 scale. Increase the value to zoom in for a telephoto effect that brings the subject closer and compresses the visible distance between foreground and background. Decrease the value to zoom out for a wide angle effect or to create an exaggerated sense of perspective.

Exposure:

Controls the overall brightness of the image. Increase the value for a brighter shot with strong highlights, or decrease the value to make the scene appear darker.

Focus Distance:

Sets the maximum distance at which objects appear sharp and in focus. Higher values here will extend the range of focus further from the camera while lower values bring it closer. (Requires an "Aperture" value of >0 to visualise).

Aperture:

Determines how much defocused blur is applied to objects beyond the maximum Focus Distance, giving the effect of a shallow depth of field. Increase this value to add more blur and to create a soft defocused background complete with a nice circular bokeh on distant lights.

Depth of Field Range Near:

Sets the minimum distance at which objects appear sharp and in focus by enabling foreground blur. Higher values here will extend the blur further from the camera while lower values bring it closer. (Requires a "DoF Aperture Near" value of >0 to visualise).

Depth of Field Aperture Near:

Determines how much defocused blur is applied to objects in the foreground area set by the "DoF Range Near" value. Use this in combination with "Aperture" for a fully realistic shallow depth of field effect.

- PHOTO MODE // DEPTH OF FIELD -

Filter Type:

Applies a preset colour filter or stylised rendering mode by selecting from 29 different types to quickly create a different look and feel for the image.

Blend:

Adjusts how strongly the selected Filter Type is applied, decreasing this value fades out the filter style and allows more of the original image to show through.

Frame Selection:

Applies a pre-designed graphical surround on top of the image by selecting from 35 preset styles.

Frame Level:

Sets whether the selected Frame appears underneath or on top of any stickers added in the Sticker Mode.

- FRAME // FILTERS -

Vignette Intensity:

Applies a circular darkened gradient around the outer edges of the image. Higher values increase the opacity of the vignette, making it darker and more visible. (Requires a "Vignette Size" value of >0 to visualise).

Vignette Size:

Adjusts the size of the Vignette with higher values extending the darkening effect closer to the centre of the image.

Film Grain Size:

Increases or decreases the size of film-like grain particles that are applied to the image. Larger grain is more noticeable and can give the impression of an enlarged image.

Film Grain Strength:

Adjusts how much film grain is applied to the image. Use lower values for a cleaner shot, or higher values to increase the amount of grain and emulate the look of film photography. Added film grain can also help low light shots look more natural.

Sharpening:

Applies a sharpening effect to enhance fine details and make textures stand out more. Notice that this feature is very aggressive and likely to cause unwanted edge artefacts if applied too strongly.

- SHARPEN // OVERSHARPEN -

Selfie Emote:

Selects a facial expression for Spider-Man. (Only available when using Selfie Camera).

Eye Intensity:

Adjusts how much the Selfie Emote changes the shape of Spider-Man's eyes.

Selfie Light:

Turns on / off the flash light from Spider-Man's phone when using Selfie Camera.

Light Intensity:

Adjusts the brightness of the Selfie Light.

- PHOTO MODE // LIGHTING -

Lighting Mode

* Spot Lights only

Light 1 / 2 / 3:

Allows you to place up to 3 moveable lights in the scene to compliment or completely change the lighting effects on the subject and surrounding environment. Each light can be repositioned with movements including orbital rotation (←LS→), distance from character (↑LS↓), lower height (L2), and raise height (R2). For Spot lights, the direction of the light beam can also be controlled (RS).

Sphere:

A spherical light source that shines light in every direction. Use this if you want to light up an entire area or don't need to control which surfaces the light hits.

Spot:

A focused spot lamp that shines light in only one direction. Use this to create directional lighting and to avoid unwanted illumination of other nearby surfaces,

Intensity:

Controls the brightness of each Sphere or Spot light with a higher intensity being a brighter light.

Cast Shadows:

Sets whether each Sphere or Spot light causes shadows to be cast by objects the light shines on. Keeping this turned on is recommended for more realistic lighting behaviour.

Colour:

Changes the hue of the light cast by each Sphere or Spot light by selecting from a visual colour picker chart.

Colour Intensity:

Increases of decreases the saturation of the colour selected for each Sphere or Spot light. Use a setting of 0 to produce a pure white light.

*Spread:

Adjusts how broad the cone of light is from a Spot lamp. Larger values cause light to shine across a wider angle, smaller values narrow the light into a more focused beam.

*Softness:

Determines whether the circle of light from Spot lamps appears with a well defined or faded outer edge. Increase the Softness value to fade more.

Distance:

Sets how far the light from each Sphere or Spot light will shine. This lets you cast light onto a nearby object without it also lighting up other objects in the background.

- LIGHTING MODE // UI -

Natural Light Customise:

Enable or disable customisation of the natural and ambient light in the game. This affects light sources such as the sun, moon and street lighting.

Intensity:

Increases or decreases the overall brightness of the natural and ambient lighting. Setting this and Ambient Light to 0 can be used to eliminate light from the surroundings and rely solely on artificial Sphere or Spot lights.

Elevation:

Changes the height of the sun or moon in the sky. Although not labelled as such, the setting is in degrees, with 90° placing the sun directly overhead and 0° dropping it to the horizon.

Rotation:

Changes the position of the sun or moon in the sky by orbiting it through 360° at a constant height. Use this to alter the direction of light and shadows in the whole environment, almost like changing the time of day.

Ambient Light:

Increases or decreases the brightness of in-game light from sources other than the sun or moon. A high value produces more light from ambient sources, while setting this and Natural Light Intensity to 0 can be used to eliminate light from the surroundings and rely solely on artificial Sphere or Spot lights.

Move Camera:

Enables or disables movement of the photo mode camera while in Lighting Mode. Tip – try temporarily using a wide Field of View setting to get a better overview of light placements without disrupting the camera's composition.

- AMBIENT LIGHT // MIN MAX -

Sticker Mode

Layers 1 - 10:

An individual sticker can be selected for each of the 10 available layers. Each layer stacks on top of the previous one, with Layer 1 appearing at the bottom of the pile and Layer 10 at the top.

Categories:

Stickers can be chose from over 380 designs across 6 categories. The categories are Chibis, Miscellaneous, Marvel Comics, Comic Text, Burst Bubbles, Web & Action Lines.

Move:

Reposition the current sticker on screen using LS.

Rotate:

Rotate the current sticker through 360° using (L1 / R1).

Scale:

Resize the current sticker using (L2 / R2).

Clear:

Press O to clear an individual sticker from its layer.

- SPIDER-MAN // STICKERS -

Other Settings

Chromatic Aberration:

Enables or disables the colour fringing effect that is applied by default to the outer edges of the screen. Disabling this effect improves image clarity.